Controversy continues in Lake Township

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, August 17, 2009

LAKE TWP— Supervisor Robert T. Smith announced Monday he is removing two members of the local planning commission for failing to perform an official duty and slander, respectively.

Charges Smith presented Lake Township Planning Commission Chairman Louis J. Colletta following Monday’s regular Lake Township Board meeting, state Colletta has failed to hold biannual election of planning commission officers, which is something required by law. As a result, the charges state Smith is removing Colletta from the board with cause, because he has failed to perform an act that is either an official duty or legal requirement.

Charges given to Planning Commission Member Tim Lalley following Monday’s meeting state he is being removed because of slanderous statements stated during a July 20 meeting the Lake Township Board and Lake Township Planning Commission held with DTE Energy representatives.

“You stated that you see working with the board as fruitless and you stated the board was unethical,” Smith’s charges state.

According to Smith, Lalley’s statements constituted “the performance of a lawful action in an illegal — slanderous — or improper manner —defamatory.”

During that July 20 meeting, Lalley asked DTE Energy representatives if, given how the company prides itself on public perception, DTE Energy is comfortable working with a board that refused to sign a principals of governance pledge sent from the Michigan Township Association.

“Basically what it says is, to insist on a high standards of ethical conduct,” Lalley told DTE Energy representatives during the July 20 meeting. “ … Three members on this board voted not to take that pledge of governance. The township supervisor, the treasurer and another trustee — a trustee who, I might add, has a lease signed with you. I’m just wondering if you’re comfortable working with a board who does not pledge to be ethical in their dealings. I’m just wondering how this is going to reflect on you as a company, and if that bothers you at all.”

Later during that meeting, Lalley stated, “The only reason I bring this up is we are entering into what appears to be some group discussions and hopefully come up with an ordinance that’s going to be best for the township. I am somewhat skeptical that with all this work that we’re going to go through, and all the work that this planning board has put in the past almost two years now, I’m very, very skeptical, that this board — in light of this refusal to sign this pledge of governance … it’s almost fruitless what we’re trying to accomplish here.”

“As a company, I would be very, very careful about working with a board that basically publicly pledges not to be honest. That’s the bottom line. I would be very concerned about that,” Lalley also stated during the July 20 meeting.

Neither Lalley or Colletta during Monday’s meeting responded to Smith’s announcement that he was removing them from the planning board.

Township Attorney Walter Salens, during Monday’s meeting, said both Lalley and Colletta are entitled to hearing, which they can choose to be held in either closed session or open to the public.

“If you wish to exercise this right, the members of the Board of Trustees will make themselves available to hear your arguments,” read the letters containing charges that Smith wrote to Lalley and Colletta. “If you choose, I am ready to accept your resignation at this time.”

Both Colletta and Lalley requested a hearing that is open to the public.

While Smith wanted to hold the hearings later this week, Salens said the board has to allow 15 days for publication of a notice of the hearings before the meeting can be held.

The Lake Township Board voted to hold a special meeting on Sept. 15 to hold the hearings. The decision wasn’t unanimous, however, as Clerk Valerie McCallum objected to having a special meeting because the township already is overbudget for special meetings. She proposed holding the hearings prior to the board’s regular meeting next month, which is set for Sept. 21.

In other business during Monday’s meeting, the Lake Township Board voted to change the height restriction in R1 and R2 residential districts from 28 feet to 35 feet.

Smith previously proposed changing the height restriction earlier this year. He said the township is not builder-friendly, and doesn’t want builders to have to wait any longer than necessary to go forward with projects that are larger than the 28-foot height restriction that was in place until Monday’s regular Lake Township Board meeting.

Salens said there was no need for the township to hold a public hearing regarding the zoning amendment, and the township was not violating any rules or laws by adopting the amendment changing the height restrictions.

Also during Monday’s meeting, the board voted on a variety of proposed zoning amendments, including putting lot coverage back to 35 percent, instead of 25 percent in all residential districts.

Smith proposed the zoning amendments earlier this year. Following a public hearing, the planning commission did not recommend the township adopt any of them, save for one that states proposed projects in the R-1 district may go forward without planning commission review. That amendment was approved by the Lake Township Board during Monday’s meeting.

Other zoning amendments Smith proposed earlier this year included expanding the planning commission from five members to nine. While the planning board, following a public hearing, voted to recommend keeping planning commission at its current size, the Lake Township Board on Monday chose to table the matter until after next month’s public hearing.

That public hearing is set for 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Lake Township Hall, located at 4988 W. Kinde Road.